Bob Baffert has trained six Kentucky Derby winners, won the Breeders’ Cup Classic four times, won four Dubai World Cups, and sent out winners at 39 racetracks, if not more. But Baffert has never won a race at Colonial Downs. He’s had but one chance, when Senor Swinger finished fourth as the 1-5 favorite under Pat Day in the 2003 Virginia Derby. That Virginia Derby, like all before this one, was contested in late summer or early autumn on turf. But Baffert’s second Colonial Downs runner, Getaway Car, starts on dirt. He probably won’t be as short as 1-5, but Getaway Car, with Irad Ortiz Jr. riding, figures to be heavily favored. Churchill Downs Inc. acquired Colonial in 2022 and this year launched a three-day spring meeting that culminates Saturday with the $500,000 Virginia Derby, part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series that determines the 20 runners in that race. The top five finishers in the Virginia Derby get 50, 20, 15, 10, and 5 qualifying points, respectively. Getaway Car has accumulated 36 Derby points, earning 20 for winning the Sunland Derby on Feb. 16. But he didn’t become a Virginia Derby option until Gaming, Baffert’s intended runner, reportedly spiked a fever last weekend. While Getaway Car, a Curlin colt of modest stature, won his first two starts, his Sunland Derby win, where he came back in the final strides after being passed by a massive colt named Caldera, broke a four-race losing streak. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2025: Point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Two of Getaway Car’s defeats came in races won by champion 2-year-old male Citizen Bull, another behind leading Kentucky Derby hope Journalism. Though that’s solid form, Getaway Car isn’t invulnerable. He’s posted only two works since the Sunland Derby, an easy solo half-mile on March 3 and a three-furlong team drill March 9. That’s not the typical breeze pattern from Baffert, who usually works his horses hard into stakes races. Getaway Car starts for the first time beyond 1 1/16 miles and is the first foal from the mare Surrender Now, a turf sprinter. Second dam Surrender ran only twice, and third dam Beaucette was a sprinter-miler. Getaway Car’s fourth dam, Mackie, won the Busher Stakes over 1 1/16 miles in 1996 while trained by Elliott Walden. Walden now serves as CEO of WinStar Farms, which owns two Virginia Derby entrants in partnership with China Horse Club. The more accomplished, Sam Davis Stakes winner John Hancock, will instead run in the Louisiana Derby, trainer Brad Cox said, leaving Rapture as Cox and Walden’s starter. A debut second in a one-turn Gulfstream mile, Rapture traveled to Arkansas for his second start, shipping with Patch Adams, who finished fourth for Cox in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn. On that same Jan. 25 card, Rapture, the mount of Flavien Prat, comfortably won a two-turn maiden race, and he since has turned in five workouts. “I’ve seen improvement,” Cox said. “A mile and an eighth around one turn, I’m not certain if that’s good or bad.” Rapture, by Uncle Mo, doesn’t stand over any more ground than Getaway Car. His dam, Positively Royal, also sprinted, and none of her four foals to race showed noteworthy stamina or ability. Authentic Gallop earned a higher Beyer Speed Figure than Rapture, 84 to 82, winning a first-level allowance Feb. 7 at Oaklawn. And while that marked Authentic Gallop’s seventh start, he raced for the first time without blinkers. “He really doesn’t have an understanding of competition, but he was in a dogfight all the way down the lane, fought hard, and I wonder if that race moves him forward,” said trainer Tom Amoss, who named Javier Castellano to ride. Omaha Omaha went 1 1/8 miles finishing a well-beaten third last out in the Gotham Stakes. The colt has zero early speed. You’ll find him racing last during the early and middle stages. “He’s been like that even when I started getting him ready as a 2-year-old,” trainer Michael Gorham said. “Numbers-wise, he’s gradually moving forward. His problem is he needs a pace setup.” Only Getaway Car has topped the 88 Beyer that American Promise earned while finishing fifth last out in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds, though modest first-level allowance sprinter Our Keepsake badly outworked American Promise on March 3 at Oaklawn. Render Judgment’s first start in blinkers would have to be meaningfully better than his four without them. Calling Card and Studlydoright have less of a chance than Render Judgment, while Georgia Magic, on paper, has no chance at all. Modest competition enhances the chance Getaway Car gives Baffert his first Colonial win. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.